Berlin, with its wide-ranging variety of academic and cultural institutions, provides a unique environment for the Graduate School. Doctoral candidates will benefit from this wealth of resources. Berlin boasts of excellent libraries and manuscript collections, especially the Staatsbibliothek, as well as two museums that house important collections relevant to the area of study. With its Foreign Office, embassies, political foundations, and major think tanks - notably German Institute for International and Security Affairs - Berlin is at the centre of German decision making vis-à-vis the Muslim world.

The Graduate School can also build upon a well-established and successful history of collaboration among many of the Principal Investigators, who are mainly affiliated to Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Zentrum Moderner Orient. They offer doctoral candidates opportunities to meet fellow researchers and to find additional research contexts related to their projects. Contacts students make and activities in which they engage will allow them to acquire the expert knowledge essential for academia, politics, journalism, and social involvement alike.